Albany City Hall

Albany City Hall, completed in 1883, is one of the finest works of H.H. Richardson's Romanesque Revival style. The massive stone building dominates Eagle Street behind the Capitol, with an asymmetrical tower, deeply shadowed arched windows, and the rough-cut granite that Richardson used to such effect. The carillon in the tower is played on summer Thursday evenings and special occasions — if you are in Albany during a concert, the sound carries across the government district.

The building's great hall interior is largely intact, with polished stone floors, ornate ironwork, and stained glass. The Common Council chamber upstairs is used for city government business and accessible during business hours.

Richardson's other buildings in Albany include the Albany City Library and the Albany County Courthouse. Together they make Albany one of the more interesting cities in the country for Richardson's work.

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A story
Albany City Hall was designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, who also designed Trinity Church in Boston and several other buildings that helped define American Romanesque Revival architecture. Richardson died in 1886, the year it was completed. The building's 202-foot tower contains a 49-bell carillon — one of the largest in North America — played in concert on summer evenings.